LMC set to boot out Chinese firm

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has begun the process to take away the doorto-door waste collection work from Chinese company EcoGreen, pointing to its performance despite a number of warnings.

In a meeting held on Thursday, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) executive committee passed a resolution to take back work from the Chinese firm and issue a fresh tender for the work. The proposal will be sent to the state government, said mayor Sanyukta Bhatia.

The executive committee has recommended replacing the Chinese company with an Indian company, Bhatia said. She said that all the members of the executive committee unanimously decided to oust EcoGreen because it had not been performing well despite a number of warnings.

Eco Green has been running a solid waste management plant at a landfill site in Shivri Village.

The LMC has been paying crores of rupees as tripping charges to the company for transporting the waste to landfill site.

According to LMC officials, the company has been paid more than Rs 150 crore for its work.

The company has also been collecting user charges from 10 lakh houses and commercial establishments about which the company has never given any details to LMC officials, despite it having been asked on several occasions.

Municipal Commissioner Indramani Tripathi said, “It was because of EcoGreen that LMC was slapped with a fine of Rs 5 crore in April last year by the UP Solid Waste Management Monitoring Committee, constituted on the orders of National Green Tribunal. EcoGreen, responsible for door-to-door collection of waste, was also slapped a fine of Rs 2 crore.”